I wana ask sumthin

[skeets]

OK guys. I know most in here are around my age so some of this might click. Growing up, Mom would can every thing she could in the fall, and of course being the oldest I had to help, not that it was a bad thing. So Mom and Dad grew up around the depression and suffered through the second war, they learned things that they passed on to us kids. Well to me more than the others I guess, anyway. I was raised to do for your self, and that meant having enough stocked away for the hard times should there be any and if not you were covered anyway. I always seem to buy stuff in quantity and re purpose things. Like sugar Sams on sale 25 pound bags, so I fill up the empty creamer bottles and store them, and the empty coffee cans plastic for freezer use for like soups and stuff like that. And as of late it seems I get more flack over trying to be prepared and save money and not haveing to go to the store for 2 cans of corn when there is a case onthe shelf inthe basement.
So really guys am I really stone age whit this kind of attatude?

 

[koja]

I always thought that was the way you're supposed to live. Nothing better than growing and canning your own. Along with raising your own beef and hunting and fishing.

 

[skeets]

And maybe a little bit of home brew too,, nice to see I aint the only cave man left

 

[RCW]

Skeets -

I grew up on a dairy farm.

I just had twin girls graduate from Cornell University and move away.

Leaves wife, 16 year old son, and me at home.

We have 2 stocked freezers and a 'fridge (beer) in the garage. 7-foot pantry cupboard out there full, too.

We ONLY buy flour and sugar 25 lbs at a time. Half a beef in the freezer.....

You get the idea!!

If your stone-age, I'm there with you!!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

We buy bulk and stock up, try to keep the cold stuff at a min during the summer just in case of a long power outage that kills the fridge and freezer, (working on a big power backup to cure that).
But over the winter we have several months worth of fridge and freezer stuff, that way if it gets snowing and ugly we don't have to worry about running to the store.

 

[TripleR]

We grew up and continue to live in the middle of the New Madrid seismic zone and try to stay prepared with extra food and a couple of years ago replaced our portable generators with a whole house unit and 1000 gallons of fuel. We have several stocked ponds and woods full of game with tools to harvest them.

 

[sawmill]

Speaking of freezers. Our freezer went out. 3 days ago we noticed everything in it had thawed. Like wolfman, we let ours dwindle down in the summer. We only lost about 20 lbs of meat. But we also lost 2 gallons of huckleberry's. We were going to start re-stocking in a couple of weeks. So, yesterday we had to go buy a new freezer.
I don't know why the old one went out. We bought it in 1983 from Western Auto and gave a whopping $199 for it. This new one cost a hellava lot more than that.

We also stay stocked up on food. That's the way we were raised, back in the day.
If Wal-Mart ever runs low on groceries, we could probably re-stock one of their stores.

 

[Daren Todd]

We keep our pantry stocked with canned and dried goods flour gets stored in big plastic totes that seal. Same with sugar. We got so much stuff in the pantry, I had to beef up the shelves Neighbor keeps us stocked with tomatoes. Got about 10 gallons worth in the freezer. Along with around 6 months worth of frozen veggies I make up big pots of chili, soup, and spaghetti sauce. What ever is left from that meal gets put into butter tubs and froze for later meals Course if the freezer goes out, then the neighborhood is eating good

 

[sheepfarmer]

I am in the middle of stashing the harvest from the veggie patch, freezing tomato and eggplant dishes, beans broccoli etc. Still have to bring in the winter squash and dig potatoes. Lamb in the freezer, beef needs to be restocked. Sugar and flour stored, some in the freezer. Depression era parents too. Can't throw anything out that might still have a little use left in it.

 

[ShaunBlake]

...
So really guys am I really stone age whit this kind of attatude?

skeets, notwithstanding the wisdom contributed by all the other old fogeys (and a young'un er two), yer wifey is right!

 

[Lil Foot]

Well, if you're in the stone age, move over & make room for me.

 

[Paulemar]

Skeets, you're not alone. We put up over 120 jars of various tomato products like sauce, juice, whole tomatoes & salsa. Also we did pickles of assorted types, froze sweet corn, blueberries, pie cherries, & more tomatoes. We also dehydrated onions, corn, carrots, green & yellow beans & squash. Truth be told my wife gets almost all of the credit for this. I just grow it. She takes it from there. We're not even preppers, we just like growing our own stuff, at least for as long as we can still do it. The BX25 certainly helps a lot with that process. Two more things is that just started a batch of sauerkraut this morning & tomorrow we have to extract & bottle about 150 lbs. or more of honey.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Who was it that said, "God helps those who help themselves."

This may sound like a Grandpa Simpson story but...

My dad was a depression era kid who learned the value in everything and I got raised with that mindset. Heck, maybe its genetic. My daughter is the same way.

I think working on and with the land gives you a "connection to reality" that others who buy their food in stores "where they don't have to kill any animals" simply never will have. And, should the need arise and you find you only have what you can make for yourself, those kids staring at empty store shelves are going to be scrambling to see what the Internet has to say about "making food."

Good luck with that.

I got a call from my friend in New Boston last night. He is a handy guy who cuts his own firewood and works on his own car. He retired 10 years ago but hasn't touched a dollar of his retirement. He helps out FedEx during the holidays. He is a part-time teacher in his town. He is the guy who had the portable saw mill. He lives frugally and keeps busy. He is just finishing up being a summer handyman at a resort on lake Winnipesaukie. He got paid -and a free cabin up there all summer long.

Jim asked me how people can be so wrapped up in social media. He said, "I am too busy actually doing stuff to screw around with telling people every move I make -or to hear they are taking a dump."

I think the people who are into working with their hands on the land of this fine country are going to be the ones who save this country. Many have forsaken their elders as oracles of experience and knowledge, turning instead to the inaccuracies and misinformation on the Internet as well as what their friends on social media tell them they heard from some other guy they don't know but who answered their question in-between taking a crap and buying a burger at McDonalds. This guy must know what he is talking about because he has a 392 thumbs-up "likes."

Call me an old fart but, this is not going to end well.

Bless every one of you and all you offer to your neighbors and friends. It marks you as different from the mainstream American today. Keep the culture and history alive. It may save the lives of others.

Back to my nap. Sorry for the rant. ZzzzzzZzzzzzZZzzzzzzz....

Ray

 

[skeets]

I sure am happy to see I aint the only one . When my wife got sick she stopped canning, and really didnt want anything more in the house than what we would use in 2 or 3 days. That made no sense to me, so I keep bucking the system and doing as I always do, even as far as going to the gun show,,,OHHHH how un PC can I be ,,,, And I'm no prepper for sure. Just to lazy to run out to the store when theres 10 inches of snow and 30 mph winds for a can of corn

 

[clay45]

Just the wife & I now. (and two shihtzu's, one cat) 25 lbs of sugar would last us around 25 years now. Nope. Just more crud the ants will find their way to. We have a fridge in the garage that my wife likes having just "in case" but we don't need it. When it dies I don't intend to replace it. My parents canned stuff but so far we don't and we haven't much storage anyway. But my parents were depression kids and my mom raised particularly poor made sure we read the story of "The Little Red Hen" until she was sure we understood its meaning.

 

[ipz2222]

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[RCW]

Well, if you're in the stone age, move over & make room for me.

And pass some of the Wholly Mammoth roast my way!!

I'm hungry!!

Skeets - we always know where our next meal is coming from, 'cause we got it right here at home!

And oh, milk doesn't come from the store, like some people think......

 

[RCW]

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I say that about my jackknife!

Truthfully, my jackknife is now a "multi-tool"

 

[Tooljunkie]

Prepared around our house means 68 rolls of tp and 40 light bulbs.

I would like to see a modest stockpile of the essentials but not enough so it gets forgotten and never used.

 

[Daren Todd]

Prepared around our house means 68 rolls of tp and 40 light bulbs.

I would like to see a modest stockpile of the essentials but not enough so it gets forgotten and never used.

You can NEVER have too much tp and paper towels!!!!!